NEW GOM QUICKLY REGISTERS IRI AND NDI

UNCLAS CHISINAU 000755 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/UMB E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PINR MD SUBJECT: NEW GOM QUICKLY REGISTERS IRI AND NDI /// C O R R E C T E D COPY - DELETED CLASSIFIED BY /// ¶1. (SBU) In one of its first official actions, the Moldovan Ministry of Justice issued registration certificates to IRI and NDI on September 29. (Note: the previous Communist-led GoM had denied registration over the past year to IRI and NDI.) This was one day after Prime Minister Vlad Filat had assured the Ambassador that the issue would be resolved swiftly. ¶2. (SBU) Newly appointed Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase personally handed over the registrations to IRI and NDI representatives in the presence of media. The Minister voiced regret that the accreditation had taken so long. He then thanked the organizations' representatives for their support to Moldova in modernizing its political system, and stressed that IRI and NDI provided assistance to all Moldovan political parties no matter whether they were in power or in opposition. ¶3. (U) Tanase was quoted in the press as saying that "These organizations will remain important in the ongoing process of reforming the political system in Moldova. We shall eliminate all bureaucratic impediments to the Ministry of Justice's normal work and are calling on non- governmental organizations and civil society to cooperate with us. The NDI and IRI registration is a new stage in the relationship between government and civil society." Comment -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador raised the issue of registrations for IRI and NDI in his first meeting with newly confirmed Prime Minister Filat on September 28. The swiftness with which the new and avowedly pro-Western, pro-reform GOM resolved this lingering problem -- the very next day -- augurs well for its relationship with civil society and for U.S.-Moldova bilateral relations. MICHELI